Being from western New York I am
not used to the heat of south central Oklahoma, especially this year as the
temperatures have insisted in remaining 5-10˚ above average. However there was
no way that I was going to let the heat stop me from enjoying my new SCA
internship at Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge.
I jumped right in by helping do water quality
monitoring for Pennington Creek on my first day. The monitoring protocol
includes air/water temperatures, water clarity, pH, and checks the levels of
dissolved oxygen, ammonia nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, orthophosphate
phosphorus, and chloride. The refuge also tests the level of coliforms in the
water. This is a program that I will get to participate each month as my
internship progresses.
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I also get to assist in many different
activities including deer, bird and herpetological surveys. During recent bird
surveys I have been able to add many new species to my ‘life list.’ Some of the
more interesting birds that I have seen here in Oklahoma include the Neotropic
Cormorant and the endangered Least Tern. I also have seen a pond with 200+
Snowy and Great Egrets in the water and in the trees, it is not every day when
you get to see that many large white birds in the trees. The opportunity to do
Whitetail Deer surveys has also been a lot of fun. The surveys are done by
spotlighting the deer at night on the refuge. The deer survey happens once a
week for around 6 to 7 weeks, however long it takes to see 1,000 deer; this is
done to ensure accurate buck/doe/fawn ratios. It was a great opportunity to get
to spotlight deer since that is not something that the general public can do. The
herpetological survey was a great chance for me to get to see some cool
creatures up close and personal. During the herp survey we set up 6 arrays
meant to force creatures into funnel or pitfall traps. We caught a Pickerel
Frogs (a rarity as its normal range is further east), some Leopard Frogs, an
Eastern Narrow Mouth Toad, Prairie Lined Race Runners, and a Fence Lizard along
with a few small mammals such as a Least Shrew and a Hispid Cotton Rat.
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| Prairie Lined Race Runners |
Today while out attempting and
sometimes successfully removing Mimosa trees, I got a chance to see an
Orange-stripped Ribbon Snake. The Ribbon Snake is a part of the garter snake
family, meaning it was a small, cute, non-venomous snake. This was a highlight
of my semi-successful excursion at removing Mimosa trees using newly acquired
weed wrenches. The Mimosa trees have strong root systems and I was having
difficulty pulling up the roots because they kept snapping off. I was
successful with a few smaller trees, but in certain soil types I couldn’t even
get the little ones. I have decided to try again after we get some rain since
it has not rained in a month and the ground is hard and dry.
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| Successfully pulled Mimosa tree |
In mid-September I got a chance to
go to Oklahoma City where I became a certified Service Technician, allowing me
to apply pesticides to invasive species. Throughout my internship I will use
ATV/UTV’s, farm tractors and a skid steer to remove many different invasive
plants from the refuge. I traveled to Hagerman NWR in TX to do my ATV/UTV
training.
This past week was the Chickasaw
Festival in Tishomingo. Tishomingo is the capitol of the Chickasaw Nation.
There were activities in town and all over the Chickasaw Nation area all week
long. During the week I went to the ‘White House of the Chickasaw’ which was a
very elegant and modern home that was built in the 1800’s. Saturday was the big
day of the festival where Governor Anoatubby (of the Chickasaws) gave his State
of the Nation speech. After the speech is the biggest parade in the state,
however this year it was cancelled shortly after it started due to a thunder
storm. I visited the Chickasaw Bank Museum on Main Street. I also visited the
Capitol building.
I have already gotten to do many
activities that I had never had an opportunity to do before and look forward to
many more great opportunities. This internship is allowing me to travel and live
in Oklahoma; I look forward to exploring the state in my free time. Plus Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert have live near the Refuge!
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| Miranda Lambert's store in downtown Tishomingo |
